Analysts expect Wolseley, the British building services giant, to announce a
special dividend of between £250m and £550m at its full-year results on
Tuesday.

Wolseley has enjoyed a strong run in its share price, despite the global economic headwinds, and is forecast to announce an improvement in the key US construction market.

UBS said that it could decide to reward loyal investors with a special dividend of between 100p and 200p a share, having previously indicated a payout would be on the cards if there were no acquisition opportunities. The company is also expected to update the market on its plans for the European division, where trading is forecast to have deteriorated. It has already said it was considering exiting its French business. Analysts at Liberum Capital said: “We believe that this could involve a full sale, which would be well received, or it may sell its relatively weak South East position.”

Tuesday should see sales come in broadly flat at £13.6bn, with operating profits rising by around 5pc to £651m, Liberum said.

Economic week ahead

In the UK, the big event of the week is the interest rate decision on Thursday. Most economists are expecting “no change” to the 0.5pc rate and the £375bn of quantitative easing, but all eyes in the City will be on their screens at noon just in case.

A clearer hint on the state of the economy will come with the full set of purchasing managers’ indices – manufacturing, construction and services.

The key manufacturing and services figures are expected to show a stabilising economy rather than one in growth mode, but at least provide further evidence that the recession is receding.

In Europe, Spain will be the focus again. A bond auction is planned for Thursday that could prove expensive.

Meanwhile, the government may decide to submit to a programme to qualify for the European Central Bank’s emergency bond purchases. But with Catalonia threatening to secede, the politics remain very tricky.

City of London Investment Group (AGM), John Swan and Sons (AGM), UK Coal (EGM),Zetar (AGM)

Tuesday

• FirstGroup has come under intense scrutiny after it won the West Coast rail franchise with a controversial £13bn bid, which is now at the centre of a legal challenge by rival Virgin Rail. However, Liberum Capital analyst Peter Hyde believes key issues in FirstGroup’s pre-close trading statement will be margin progression at its US First Student school bus business and at its troubled UK bus operation.

Full-year results

Antisoma, St Ives, Wolseley

Interim results

None scheduled

Trading update

Babcock International Group, FirstGroup

Economics

Nationwide house price index, construction PMI

Meetings

Irish Continental Group (EGM)

Wednesday

• Wednesday is judgment day for Britain’s supermarket industry, with Tesco and J Sainsbury going head to head. Tesco, which posts half-year results, is expected to report its first decline in group profits for almost 20 years. This is due to the company’s investment in the UK to try to halt flagging sales, and a slowdown in some international markets.

This means Sainsbury is poised to grab the plaudits. Analysts expect the company to show it is outperforming Tesco in the UK in its second quarter trading update, with like-for-like sales up 1.4pc.

• Sportingbet’s fourth quarter trading update will be overshadowed by the revelation that it has rejected a £350m joint offer from William Hill and Aim-listed group GVC Holdings.

Most analysts expect William Hill will have to offer somewhere in the region of 60p a share, but broker Numis believes Sportingbet’s shareholders should hold out for 90p a share, given that its trading is currently at a “low point”. William Hill is interested in Sportingbet’s regulated businesses, notably its lucrative Australian operation. Numis said that Sportingbet Australia “has great potential” and is “worth 64p per Sportingbet share”.

The business in Australia accounts for about a third of the country’s online gambling market, as well as more than 90pc of Sportingbet’s profits.

Thursday

• The British fashion retailer Ted Baker has just opened its first store in China, in Beijing, and investors hope the move could herald a new phase of growth for the company. Ted Baker posts interim results this week, with analysts at Panmure Gordon forecasting a 13.9pc rise in revenues to £117m, and a 7pc rise in pre-tax profits to £9.1m. In a trading update in June, Ted Baker said retail sales were up 16.2pc and that it was “pleased with performance across all territories, despite a backdrop of challenging trading conditions”.

Friday

• Investors in John Wood Group will be hoping for better news when the company gives a trading update this week, after some were left disappointed by its half-year results in August. At the time, the oil services group reported results that analysts at Liberum Capital described as “in line with expectations except for poor cash generation and bad debts”.

Since then the Aberdeen-based company has returned to the FTSE 100 after a spell in the mid-cap index but has also seen a number of analyst downgrades.